A Hoboken woman suffered a near-fatal heart attack at the age of 34 last week. But the real story is how she was saved - nearly frozen and brought back to life using a revolutionary medicine technique that few New Jersey hospitals have.

Michelle Bychowsky, who lives with her husband off Newark Street, was in the middle of presenting a meeting last Wednesday at her job as a global outsourcing manager for Novartis. Someone asked her a question, and, instead of responding, she made a funny face and then lay her head down on the table. Concerned co-workers rushed to her, asking if she felt OK. She robotically shook her head 'no' and then started gasping for air.

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerKristen de Grandpre, a clinical nurse at Morristown Memorial Hospital's Cardiac Unit, shows the new "Cold Suit," used on cardiac patients to cool down body temperature and reduce the chance of brain injury due to lack of oxygen.

Hypothermic therapy is the process of cooling down the body to the chilly temperature of 33 degrees Celsius (91.7 F). Inducing hypothermia greatly slows down one's metabolism and is used as a tool to limit the amount of injuries sustained in a stroke, heart attack or other severe trauma.

"Think of it this way: When you get a cut, it gets warm in that spot because your natural immunity tries to fix it," explained Kristen deGrandpre, clinical nurse specialist for cardiovascular medicine at Morristown Memorial. "Keeping it cold decreases the body's natural response of trying to correct everything."

In Michelle's case, medical workers were trying to limit the amount of brain damage she could incur as a consequence of being unconscious for so long.

"After you've had a cardiac arrest, which has deprived the brain of oxygen, you lose blood flow to the brain. When blood comes back, extra fluid leaks out and the brain swells, which in turn causes brain damage," said Kristen. "By keeping it cold, you stop the swelling from happening."

A "Cold Suit" was attached to Michelle's body - two sets of pads around her chest like a vest and one on each of her upper thighs. Ice water ran through the pads and her temperature dropped steadily.

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The idea of medically induced hypothermia has been in practice since the 1950s, said Kristen, when doctors would literally put people in ice water baths to cool them down. In 2001, clinical trials began on the machine technique and in 2002 it was presented to the American Heart Association, where it was rated as having a 50 percent chance of reducing brain damage in patients after a cardiac arrest.

These days, the procedure is still relatively rare and is practiced in only a few hospitals throughout New Jersey. Morristown Memorial only started using the Artic Sun protocol, the type that saved Michelle, in November of 2007. Michelle was their fourth patient to receive the treatment.

"At first I thought it was a natural procedure. But then when they told me Michelle would only be the fourth one to get it there, I was thinking, 'Wait, she isn't a lab rat,'" he said. "But they provided me with enough information and made me feel comfortable, so I knew it was a good step."

Michelle remained at 91.7 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours, still breathing and maintaining a pulse and brain activity. After 24 hours, medical staff slowly warmed her body to 97.7 degrees, at which she was kept for another 24 hours. The entire time, Michelle was given drugs that would prevent her from moving and kept heavily sedated. Shivering can disrupt the effectiveness, said Kristen, and medical staff doesn't want the patient to feel any cold, anxiety or pain during the two-day procedure.

When Michelle finally, groggily, came to, doctors gave her a series of neurological exams, which she passed with flying colors.

"After she passed her tests, all of us in the room started clapping. For us it was baby steps; we were just so happy to see her eyes open," said Paul. His wife suffered from some short-term memory loss immediately after her coma, but regained it during her hospital stay.

Timing for hypothermic therapy is crucial; Michelle had to be cooled within six hours of resuscitation from the initial cardiac arrest. Kristen thinks Michelle's age and overall good health contributed to the success of the procedure.

'They can't give a diagnosis as to why her heart did what it did," said Paul. "There's no rhyme or reason. She's very healthy, she didn't smoke, and she exercised three or four times a week."

About a year ago, Michelle was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, a condition in which the valves of the heart don't close correctly and can cause mild regurgitation. But the condition is not serious, said Paul, and doctors aren't sure if they can pin that on Michelle's heart attack. They think the cardiac arrest may have been caused by abnormal rhythms in lower chambers of the heart, said Paul.

"I'm very grateful not only for the people who helped me out at Novartis, but the staff here and having the protocol available," said Michelle, who is scheduled to leave the hospital and return home to Hoboken today.

"You do get nervous when you hear this is the only the fourth time, but they have to start somewhere. And it was done perfectly," said Paul. "We're very happy. We're very private people but this is a story that needs to get out."

Note: Michelle and Paul would like to thank the Morristown Memorial hospital staff as well as two Novartis employees - Kevin Garmarello and Bob Gallagher (who happens to be a registered EMT) who administered CPR on her when she collapsed at work.